


Here There Be Dragons

by virgo_writer



Series: Sixteen-by-Eight Feet [5]
Category: Make It or Break It
Genre: Dragons, Drama, F/M, Fairy Tale Style, Family, Future Fic, Gen, Romance, Storytelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-05
Updated: 2011-01-05
Packaged: 2020-09-01 21:02:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20264461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/virgo_writer/pseuds/virgo_writer
Summary: “Once upon a time there was a dragon named Alexandru.” 16x8 Universe. Payson/Sasha





	Here There Be Dragons

**Author's Note:**

> Original Authors Note: This chapter occurs during Alphabet while Sasha is in Romania. This is the bedtime story that Payson told Dru. I realized in hindsight that it's a bit dark for a six year old, particularly one who just lost his grandfather a month ago, but I still kind of love it all the same.

_August 2024_

Payson sat on the end of their king-sized bed, carefully brushing out her long blonde hair.

“Mamă, hurry,” called a small voice from up by her pillows, her son looking impatient and petulant.

“Okay,” Payson smiled, stopping by her dresser to put on her favourite hand cream – a gift from her husband – and slipped into the bed beside Sandu, propped up by the pillows. Sandu shuffled closer, leaning against her side and making himself nice and comfortable.

“Let’s see,” she said warmly. “Once upon a time there was a dragon named Alexandru.”

“And he lived in Transylvania,” Sandu informed.

“Alexandru the Transylvanian dragon,” Payson agreed. “But he was a good dragon,” she promised, “not like the mean, angry dragons in stories that steal away the princess. Alexandru watched out for all the people in Transylvania and made sure their crops kept growing and that they had enough water and that they didn’t get too cold in winter.

“And the people loved him for it.

“Now in the middle of Transylvania there was a castle,” she continued. “A big stone castle with a towers and dungeons and a draw bridge with a moat.”

“That’s where the princess lived,” Sandu supplied happily, because fairy tales always had to have a princess. “Her name was Princess Payson,” he told her. “And the dragon was really called Sasha even though he was called Alexandru.”

“That’s right,” Payson smiled, realizing that this was not going to be the story she intended with the brave Dragon Alexandru saving the baby Princess Caitlin. Although she supposed that Dragon Sasha could be equally apt at saving his own princess. “If Princess Payson lived in the castle, where do you think Dragon Sasha lived?”

“He lived in a cave at the top of a mountain,” Sandu told her. “And he was all by himself and he was very lonely. ‘Cos even though the people all loved Dragon Sasha for what he did for them, they were all really scared of him. And that made him sad.”

Payson nodded contemplatively.

“I think the princess was lonely too,” Sand added thoughtfully, his voice small.

“Even though she was a princess?” Payson asked. “The princess had her friends and family with her. She was admired by all of the Transylvanians, and they all wanted to be her friend. She wasn’t alone like the dragon.”

“Being lonely doesn’t mean alone,” Sandu replied sagely with wisdom well beyond his five years of life. The words, she knew, came from an old Romanian proverb that Dmitri had been quite fond of. It was all about strength and brotherly love, but mixed with her son’s curious innocence it seemed a haunting reminder of her life before Sasha.

“No,” she said softly. “_ Stingher nu semnifica singur _ _ ,” _ she said, repeating the phrase in its native tongue. “Like the dragon, the princess was very lonely,” she admitted, “she just didn’t know it because she’d never known anything else. All she cared about was being Queen one day and she wouldn’t let anything distract her from that goal. And whenever she was sad or lonely, she just brushed if off and thought to herself ‘I’ll be happy when I’m Queen’.”

“Was she?” Sandu asked in a worried tone, his heart aching for the princess in their story. Aching for his mother’s pain although he did not know it.

Payson smiled reassuringly, combing her fingers through his head of blonde hair. “She was,” she told him, wistfully remembering her own 'crowning', “but not the way she thought.

“But we’ll get to that part of the story,” she added, tapping him gently on the nose. “Don’t you want to know how Princess Payson and Dragon Sasha met?”

Sandu nodded eagerly and Payson continued the story. “You see, Princess Payson wasn’t the only princess who wanted to be Queen. There were other princesses – not just in Transylvania, but all over the world – all wanting the same thing. And so Princess Payson had a protector who would keep her safe and guide her until she was Queen.”

“Was he a Knight of the Round Table?” asked Sandu, whose current fascination consisted of the Arthurian legends (alongside dragons of course). With a small nod, Payson smiled and asked him what the Knight’s name was. Sandu happily supplied her with, “Sir Marty of San Antonio.” She swore it was coincidence.

“The princess’ knight, Sir Marty, spent many years protecting her and helping her become Queen,” Payson continued. “But one day he was lured away from the castle and became lost in the woods. He couldn’t find his way back.”

“But Princess Payson needs him,” Sandu gasped. 

“She did,” Payson agreed. “But Sir Marty was so completely lost and there were others that kept him from fulfilling his duty to the princess. Without a protector she couldn’t be Queen, and for the first time the princess felt like she really was alone and everything she had given up was for nothing.”

She paused for a moment, suddenly aware that this wasn’t the most appropriate bedtime story to send her son to sleep. Even if she glossed over most of the details with magic and vague references to betrayal, it was a dark story full of various degrees of heartache. Sandu nudged at her side, urging her to go on, already too absorbed to allow her to stop mid-story.

“The princess’ subjects became very concerned for her fate and they cried out for help,” she continued solemnly. “For someone to protect their princess.”

“The dragon heard them,” Sandu realised, relief flooding his features.

“He did,” she said, “and he flew all the way down from his cave. Straight to the princess’ castle.

“Princess Payson couldn’t believe what she was seeing,” Payson told him, the awe from her memories modulating her tone. “All her life she’d heard stories of the incredible things that Dragon Sasha had done, but she’d never seen him with her own eyes.”

“I bet she wasn’t even scared of him at all,” Sandu told her with a proud look.

“Not even a little bit,” Payson confirmed with a smug smile as she remembered the day Sasha first arrived at The Rock. “She thought he was wonderful,” she said wistfully. “Amazing even.

“But of course, the princess wasn’t the only person to see Sasha the dragon arrive. Lots of the other Transylvanians were still scared of Dragon Sasha and didn’t want him around their princess.

“They tried to drive him away.”

“No,” Sandu gasped.

Payson nodded. “But Princess Payson wouldn’t let them. So she chased after Dragon Sasha and begged him to stay. She couldn’t let him leave. She needed him.”

“He stayed, didn’t he, Mamă?” Sandu asked hopefully. “He stayed and he helped her become Queen.”

“He did,” Payson confirmed, pressing a gentle kiss to her son’s forehead. “He stayed with her – he stayed her whole life.

“Now go to sleep, my little warrior,” she said in a soothing tone, settling him back into the bed and tucking the blankets around him. “I’m sure there will be plenty of dragons in your dreams.”

“But you didn’t finish the story, Mamă,” Sandu protested, verging upon whining. He wriggled around, unwinding himself from the cocoon she had encased him in.

This was a new tactic for Sandu, and Payson decided to humour him for the sake of her own curiosity. “Is that so?” she asked him incredulously, leaning over her son to give him a mock stern look.

Sandu shook his head adamantly. “You didn’t say what made the princess happy,” he told her. “And the dragon – you didn’t say if he was happy.”

His response caught her a little off guard, not being what she expected to hear. She was more than a little impressed by his perceptiveness – a trait she traced back to her own very observant father. “Another night,” she promised in an attempt to placate him, but Sandu was determined to hear the story tonight.

“You promised, Mamă,” he said with a heart-breaking expression – lip jutted out and eyes wide and sad. She knew she was caving too easily, but she was a sucker for those eyes and could never deny either of her Alexandrus anything

“Alright, Sandu,” she conceded, shifting them both back up the bed into her story telling position. “Now where were we?”

“Princess Payson asked Dragon Sasha to stay,” Sandu said happily.

“And so he stayed,” Payson nodded, picking up the story where she left off. “He protected her and helped her become a better princess and thus a better Queen. He made her great.

“With Dragon Sasha there to protect her and guide her, Princess Payson didn’t feel so lonely,” she admitted in a quiet voice. “The princess felt like she had someone who understood her and everything she was going through. Like they were in it together as partners. And when she lost her way, he was the one who brought her back. He was the one who believed in her no matter what.

“But there were still those people who were frightened of the dragon,” she reminded Sandu, her voice taking on an ominous tone. “They didn’t want the dragon around, so they drove him away, sending him back to his cave.”

“But the princess . . .” Sandu gasped.

“Was alone,” she said sadly. “Truly alone. Before she didn’t know any better, but now she knew what it was like to have someone who was there for her no matter what. She knew how things could be and what it was like to be happy.”

“Dragon Sasha made her happy,” Sandu stated, his expression a mixture of emotions. He was glad because the princess had been able to find happiness, but was sad at the thought of that being taken away so soon.

“He did,” Payson nodded. “The worst part was that she didn’t even realize how happy he made her until he was gone. And after that she was so sad. She couldn’t even enjoy the things that used to stop her from feeling lonely before and she wasn’t even sure she wanted to be Queen anymore.

“It was only once he was gone that she realized that she loved Sasha,” she said wistfully. “Completely. With all her heart.

“So you know what Princess Payson did?” she asked Sandu with a bright smile. Sandu shook his head but looked hopeful at her enthusiasm. “The princess sought out her most loyal subjects and together they took a journey. It was full of all sorts of obstacles and people trying to stop them but it took her to where she needed to be.

“All the way up to the highest mountain in Transylvania and to the dragon’s cave,” she told Sandu in a hushed tone.

“When she found him there, so sad and so lonely, it broke her heart,” she told him. “He was so alone . . . I think it would have broken yours too, my little warrior,” she told him, tossling his hair. Sandu nodded sadly. “He did so much for them – gave them everything he had – but they kept driving him away. There was only so much he could take before he gave up and just stayed away like they all wanted.”

“But not the princess,” Sandu reminded her. “The princess loves him.”

“That she does,” Payson nodded. “So much so that she couldn’t stand to see him unhappy.

“But instead of telling him that, she pretended to hate him,” she told Sandu. “She was awful – she called him a coward and said he deserted her when she needed him most. She pretended it was only about the position – that she needed him to protect her – and not about what he meant to her.”

“But why didn’t she tell him the truth, Mamă?” Sandu asked, his face awash with confusion.

“She was scared,” Payson explained. “She thought if he knew it would only give him more reason to stay away. She knew he would stay away if he thought it was for her own good.

“But even though he didn’t know how she really felt, he still came back to her.” Sandu tilted his head, the question written on his features. “He came back to prove her wrong,” she explained.

“He became her closest friend,” she continued warmly. “And even after she became Queen and didn’t need the dragon to protect her anymore, Dragon Sasha was still there for her.

“He never left her and that made the princess very happy,” she said, tears prickling in her eyes.

“What about the dragon?” Sandu asked, still not satisfied. “You can’t end there, Mamă. Dragon Sasha has to be happy too for it to end.”

“He was happy,” Payson assured him. “The princess stopped him from being lonely.”

“But the dragon has to know that she loves him,” Sandu told her. “’Cos I think Dragon Sasha loves her too. So the princess has to tell him the truth.”

“Even though she’s scared?” Payson prodded gently.

“She has to stop being scared,” Sandu said simply.

She smiled at his simple solution, because really had been that simple. She'd be scared of losing him that she stayed silent for all that time. Once she let go of that fear, it all just fell into place.

“What happened next, Mamă?” Sandu questioned impatiently, bringing her back to the present. She had been silent for too long, and Sandu was getting anxious to discover how the story would end.

She sent him a small smile, giving herself a moment more to devise an ending to their story. “Are you sure you want to know?” she asked slightly teasing. “This bit might get a bit scary.”

Sandu nodded eagerly and she picked up the tale once more. “Princess Payson was in her study one day when she discovered something about the dragon that nobody else knew,” she said beckoning for Sandu to come closer as she lowered her voice to a whisper. “Dragon Sasha was really Prince Sasha.”

“But he’s a dragon,” Sandu gaped.

“But he wasn’t always a dragon,” Payson pointed out shrewdly. “Once, long ago, Sasha was a prince of Transylvania with his own dragon protector and he was going to be King of all the land.

“But others were jealous of that,” she said in hushed tones, “and they made all sorts of plans to keep Prince Sasha from being King. And one day he was poisoned.”

“No!”

“Prince Sasha’s dragon cared deeply for his charge and didn’t want to see him die,” she said gently, stroking Sandu’s head reassuringly. “To save him, he took Prince Sasha’s poisoned heart and made him into a dragon. He kept him alive.

“That’s what made him so lonely,” she added. “As a prince he had been loved by all and he had his friends and family, but as a dragon he was feared and he had nobody until he met the princess.

“When she discovered the truth, Princess Payson was very sad,” she continued. “She remembered her own loneliness and how things had been before the dragon came into her life. She wanted to make it so that Dragon Sasha was human again so that he could be happy and wouldn’t be alone,” she said determinedly. 

“But there was only one way to reverse the spell,” she told Sandu. “She had to give him her heart.”

“But she’d die,” Sandu said, his eyes wide.

“Yes,” Payson nodded, “but the princess was willing to make that sacrifice so that Sasha could be happy. That’s how much she loved him, Sandu.

“So she asked a magician to perform a special spell,” she continued, drawing from some other tragedy to fill in the details, “and she met with Dragon Sasha at a special lake that was said to hold the magic of the dragons.

“Knowing that she was going to her death, Princess Payson was finally brave enough to tell Dragon Sasha how much she loved him,” she said warmly. “But he couldn’t accept her feelings because of what he was; because he thought he was unworthy.

“But Princess Payson didn’t know this, and she thought it was because he didn’t love her,” she said to Sandu, who looked stricken by this. “She told Dragon Sasha it was okay and that she only wanted him to be happy, so she gave him her heart. 

“Sasha tried to refuse it, because he knew the princess wouldn’t survive, but it was already too late,” she said solemnly. “The bargain had already been struck and Sasha turned back into a prince while the princess fell into a deep sleep. And he cried out in pain, knowing he could never be happy without her.

“An old dragon – Prince Sasha’s dragon – heard them and he arose from the lake,” she continued, her voice rising as she moved towards the conclusion. “Prince Sasha begged him to unmake the deal – to return him to his dragon form so that he could be with the princess forever. But the dragon couldn’t do this.”

“But – “

“It’s not over,” Payson promised, cutting off Sandu's protest over the dire circumstances. “The dragon couldn’t give the princess back her heart, but he could give her another in return. Because for all those years, the dragon had kept Prince Sasha’s poisoned heart and guarded it until it was needed. And at first the heart was dying and nothing could be done to save it, but with the princess’ love, the heart slowly came back to life.”

Sandu’s expression brightened as he realized what came next. “The dragon gave the princess Prince Sasha’s heart,” he said excitedly.

“He did,” Payson nodded. “And the princess woke up from her slumber. Prince Sasha was so happy, and now that he was a prince he asked her to marry him and stay with him forever. So they did and they became King and Queen of Transylvania, and had two children named Sandu and Caitlin.

“And they all lived happily ever after,” she finished warmly.

Sandu beamed and snuggled up to her side. “That was a good story, Mamă,” he applauded.

“Was it?” she asked.

Sandu nodded, sleep finally beginning to take over. “I liked that everyone was happy in the end.”

“Me too.”

“But, Mamă?” he asked sleepily. “You don’t really have Tată’s heart?”

She smiled mysteriously and kissed his forehead. “Go to sleep, my little warrior. I’ll tell you in the morning.”


End file.
